Left-arm fast bowler Wahab Riaz can bother the greatest with his pace, but he hasn’t always been able to combine it with consistency. Because Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif missed more games than they played, Riaz profited from this. He entered the national team quicker than he could have predicted. Even though he hadn’t always been consistent, he had some successful moments in international cricket since then.
Riaz’s early success was a testament to his potential. He became the seventh bowler from Pakistan to take five wickets in his first Test match, a significant achievement. Moreover, he took five for sixty-three against England at The Oval in 2010. Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, and Andrew Strauss were among his victims. However, he was removed from the Test team in 2011 following bad West Indies and New Zealand tours.
Let’s discuss the top three performances of Wahab Riaz in Test cricket:
1) 7 wickets vs West Indies
Wahab Riaz had a fantastic spell against West Indies, taking seven wickets. He was the best bowler in the match as he destroyed the West Indies batting lineup and shocked the batters with his swing and other variations. However, West Indies went on to win the game by five wickets thanks to the batters and their consistent performance. This match was part of the 2016 series, where Riaz’s performance was a standout despite the team’s loss.
2) 6 wickets vs England
Wahab Riaz was absolutely brilliant against England. It was Pakistan’s tour of England, where the Men in Green won the match by four wickets courtesy of Riaz’s six wickets. He played some really good cricket and used England’s weather in his favor. He proved some excellent swing, which helped him get wickets at regular intervals.
3) 5 wickets vs Sri Lanka
Pakistan and Sri Lanka played on the neutral ground of the UAE, where the Lankan Lions won the match by 68 runs. However, Riaz was brilliant, claiming five wickets in the match against Sri Lanka. It was a good bowling effort from him, but he couldn’t save his team from losing the match.
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